


this love of ours, you of my heart, is no light thing

by iamtrash



Category: The 100 (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-25 13:59:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6197770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamtrash/pseuds/iamtrash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>au. clarke and aden are a lil messed up after lexa's death, but they have each other for support</p>
            </blockquote>





	this love of ours, you of my heart, is no light thing

**Author's Note:**

> (sorry about this. we're all just trying to cope with lexa's death the best way we know how. my way just happens to be spreading the pain.)

“Aden open the door!”

Clarke struggled outside their apartment door with bags of groceries hanging from her arms. She knew Aden would still be awake; he always stayed up until he knew Clarke got home safely from her night shift at the hospital. After a year of yelling at him to get some sleep before school the next morning, she finally accepted defeat – he was as stubborn just as Lexa was. 

But tonight, something seemed off to Clarke. Usually like clockwork, Aden opened the door every night after five seconds passed when hearing Clarke’s voice. Tonight, it was 9 seconds. If there was one thing Clarke knew about the Woods family, they were always punctual. Always. 

So Clarke wasn’t too surprised when a puffy eyed Aden opened the door in his Game of Thrones pajamas, took the groceries from her arms, and brought them to the kitchen counter without a word. She took in a deep breath while locking the door, already mentally preparing herself for how to deal with this. If only Lexa was here; she knew exactly how to calm Aden down when he was upset. 

Clarke silently walked to the kitchen, sighing when she saw her Jack Daniels bottle opened. If Lexa were to walk in on this, Aden would be in a world of trouble. But Clarke couldn’t help but sympathize with the boy who was staring at her from across the counter, so she did the next best thing instead of scolding him: she poured both of them a drink. 

Before she handed him a glass, she narrowed her eyes, “Just so you know, I don’t condone this. You’re only 16 and this is a one-time thing only.” Aden only nodded in response, gently taking the glass from Clarke’s hands. After, she immediately busied herself with putting the groceries in their designated places. Clarke was always patient with him – she made sure to wait until he spoke first. 

But Aden was quiet more than usual tonight, and he waited until Clarke was completely finished with putting away the groceries before he started speaking.

“Um,” he started and Clarke could already hear his voice beginning to crack. 

“Couch,” she stated before walking them both to the living room couch. If she was going to have to deal with an emotional night, she might as well be drunk and comfortable. 

Aden let out a shaky breath after he sat down next to Clarke, trying to stabilize his voice before he spoke. Clarke swiftly wiped away a tear that was starting to fall down his left cheek. “Drink up, kid,” she said in hopes of alleviating some tension. Aden couldn’t help but bring his glass up to his wet small smile. And Clarke couldn’t help but let out a small laugh as she watched Aden grimace after he swallowed a sip. 

“God, how do you drink this crap?” he asked, notably more firm with his words.

“And he speaks,” she responds, resulting in a slight shove from the boy next to her. 

Aden’s smile faltered as he stared blankly inside the glass he was holding. “I miss her so much.” Clarke tried not to focus on the tears that was beginning to form in his eyes again and immediately took another sip.   
“I know. I do too,” she said, placing a gentle hand on his knee.

It’s been a little over a year since the accident, and both of them are still trying to adjust to the change. Clarke has tried to fill the “big sister” role as best as she can. She makes sure he gets to school on time, eats right, gets at least six hours of sleep every night, helps him with homework, and stays up with him binge watching shows until he passes out. But she knows she can never replace Lexa’s role full heartedly. 

“And I know I don’t have a job to help aroun-“

“Aden, stop. For the hundredth time, you are not just some liability that I have to deal with. You’ve been my little brother for over two years now. I’m not just going to ship you off to foster care. Hate to break it to you bud, but you’re kind of stuck with me. So get used to it.”

Clarke was right. She took taking care of Aden extremely serious; not just because Lexa did, but because Clarke actually loved the kid. Whether she had to open a savings account for his education or not, she didn’t care. Whether she had to spend nights like these, swallowing her feelings away to be strong for Aden, she still didn’t care. She would do anything for him.

Aden took a large sip from his glass, coughing after he swallowed. 

“Clarke?”

“What’s up?” she asked before taking another sip. She needed to be a little numb if he was going to bring up tomorrow. 

“Can we do something tomorrow for her birthday?” 

Not numb enough. She downed her glass, breaking eye contact with Aden. 

“I already took off from work and was planning on calling your school tomorrow morning to say you were sick.”

Aden looked away. Clarke was too good sometimes and always read him perfectly. Someone like her didn’t deserve this kind of pain. Especially twice. So he did what Clarke did whenever she was desperate to get some sleep: he downed the rest of his drink. The sting immediately sent tears to his eyes, but this time he didn’t cough. He couldn’t help but wonder if every time he saw those blue eyes teary, if it was because she was swallowing her feelings down or swallowing whiskey. He didn’t know which one made him feel worse. But he did know this: he loves Clarke Griffin, maybe not the same way Lexa did, but enough for him to protect her at all costs.

Clarke made sure they both got to sleep before midnight hit.


End file.
